The 5th Element – Sounds of Space

Back with another episode of The 5th Element of HipHop… you know.. “knowledge”. The last couple have been a bit political, so, let’s deviate from the beaten path and talk about some cool knowledge-based stuff. “How does this relate to underground / indie hiphop” , you ask? Well, HipHop is universal. That’s right.. dap me up, I’m cleaver. Alright, here is another installment of The 5th Element.. This one requires your spacesuit:

Hollywood’s cliched statement in reference to Space / Sci-Fi thriller’s is “in space, no one can hear you scream” , which is actually originally from the movie 1979 movie Alien (that movie trailer is actually pretty jacked up) . Despite Hollywood’s tendency for unrealism and scientific inaccuracies (hello, Independence Day) , is actually pretty sound ……..you saw what I did there. Sound requires an atmosphere, which is why the only way you’ll hear the cool ass “pew pew” of Tie Fighters is watching the movie.

For insider reference, I tried looking for some sort of video which showed how Star Wars space battles would look like without sound… but since no genius has decided to create a clip.. just watch Star Wars battles on mute. There, boom. … Speaking of space battles, though, check this out:

You back? Okay. Reality time.. We were discussing sounds in space. Well, NASA has been monitoring the electromagnetic waves of planets for quite some time and through the use of a specialized plasma antenna, was able to convert the recordings of the waves to 20-20,000 kilohertz, which is within human earshot.

What you have as a result are unique audio signatures of planets and celestial bodies which, until the past few years, we have only been able to imagine through the visual sense (and math.. but you probably don’t study this type of stuff, so that doesn’t even matter, right? ).

Man, is it amazing, just take a look — the eerie eletronic sound of Io, the monastic “Voice of Earth”, the ominous Saturn… even it’s rings have their own “sound”. I consider this a breakthrough in science, as we get to study the planet on a completely brand new scale.

If you have the ability to utilize your eardrums, don’t skip out on this video. I’m more than sure you will be amazed.

Science is pretty damn dope, shun.

Now, keep in mind, there is also a 24-Hour site dedicated to monitoring your favorite celestial bodies.. head out to Radio Astronomy for more!!

Okay, RoQ Riffs!! That’s enough for this session. Hope you enjoyed something new. Of course, let us know what you think, below!!